Plutarch’s Lives, Volume 1

Plutarch’s Lives remains one of the world’s most profoundly influential literary works. Written at the beginning of the second century, it forms a brilliant social history of the ancient world. His “parallel lives” were originally presented in a series of books that gave an account of one Greek and one Roman life, followed by a comparison of the two. Volume 1 compares Theseus and Romulus, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, and Aristides and Marcus Cato, among others.

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Publisher's Summary

This book was the principal source for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra. It was also one of two books Mary Shelley chose for the blind hermit to use for Frankenstein’s monster’s education, with the other being the Bible.

Plutarch’s Lives remains one of the world’s most profoundly influential literary works. Written at the beginning of the second century, it forms a brilliant social history of the ancient world. His “parallel lives” were originally presented in a series of books that gave an account of one Greek and one Roman life, followed by a comparison of the two. Included are Romulus and Theseus, Pompey and Agesilaus, Dion and Brutus, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Demosthenes and Cicero, and Demetrius and Antony.

Plutarch was a moralist of the highest order. “It was for the sake of others that I first commenced writing biographies,” he said, “but I find myself proceeding and attaching myself to it for my own; the virtues of these great men serving me as a sort of looking glass, in which I may see how to adjust and adorn my own life.”

The first of the two volumes in this translation by John Dryden presents Theseus and Romulus, Pericles and Fabius, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Aristides and Marcus Cato, and Lysander and Sylla, among others.

This is an old translation that was somewhat modernized. Would have been far better to start fresh with a 21st century translation. At times this translation is stiff and vague. The reader sounds way too elderly in a few places. However, most of the time the reader is fine. Any Plutarch is better than none at all and I give this 4 Stars for my great love of Plutarch (even though he stop moralizing). I'm thankful to have this but would be happier if more modern translation came out with a better reader. Driving 300-500 miles a week for my job, I'll easily listen to this in it's entirety 7 times. This is the only complete Plutarch audio book I know. This is a great supplement to reading Plutarch and allows the listener an opportunity to 'view' this material from a different perspective. There's just so much historical information that listening can really aid in comprehending Plutarch's Lives.

The historical and cultural value of Plutarch's Lives goes without saying. It is a must read for anyone serious about developing literacy in classical western literature.

Lives is not easy to digest as a continuous narrative. Plutarch covers a huge amount of territory, and uses a fairly predictable template for each biography. While the narrator is good, it would have been better if there were multiple narrators, perhaps one for the Roman biographies and one for the Greek. It is just easy to lose focus listening to the same voice and cadence for so many hours!

I read Plutarch's lives in Greek when I was young but thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and finding out how many details I had forgotten. This book is an excellent choice for anyone who is interested in this time period of Classical Greece and Rome. There is still so much to learn from the past. That's what the word "history" means in Greek, it comes from the verb "oida" which means to know.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Alex

ATHENS, Greece

2/3/14

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"In-audible! Awfully low recording quality!"

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I doubt anyone can listen to this recording! Just listen to the "sample" before you buy and you will notice the recording quality is so bad (...I didn't).. John Dryden must have recorded this either sitting at the bottom of a well or over a 1960s long distance telephone connection!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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